Gettin' Better, Together
by Iggy's Duckie
Summary: Without a limb or two, the two hospitalized teens will soon learn how to adapt. But will they learn how to live? Is losing an arm really a blessing or a curse for the young German? When Ludwig finds a helpful companion in his new hospital roommate, Feliciano, will they ever be able to part from each other? GerIta. Review and I will update!
1. Prologue-ish

_It was a quiet, cool night. He and his brother were resting in their tent in a campsite, which seemed to be all but forgotten by the locals, who lived a long ways away from where they were.. Little did anyone know how well known it would become throughout their city as being in the most dangerous of woodland regions of the entire country. _

_But, of course, the older albino brother didn't know or bother to care when he drove himself and his seventeen-year-old brother out aimlessly into the wilderness. Gilbert had reassured Ludwig repeatedly that they were out of harm's way since he had his "awesome big bruder" with him. He also distracted him with hunting and fishing, which seemed to take the blonde's attention off of "unimportant" matters. Soon, he would regret not listening to his younger sibling. _

_In their small, stuffy, one-man tent, the German and the "Prussian" slept soundly. Gilbert snoring and Ludwig breathing deeply, right cheek buried into his pillow. His furrowed eyebrows twitched as his ears caught the faint sound of some of the bushes rustling around their campsite. Ludwig's eyes suddenly fluttered open as he heard heavy steps. It took a few seconds to register the sound as he rose drowsily from his sleeping bag. Gilbert's snores drowned out the sound, so Ludwig wasn't sure if it was just his imagination or not. But then they got heavier as he heard the large thing making the steps draw closer to their campsite, or more importantly, their tent. The blonde's eyes widened and he grabbed the flashlight by his pillow. "Who's there?" he whispered. When he recieved no response, he repeated it louder. He heard a grunt. A shiver of paranoia traveled down his spine and raised goosebumps on his arms. "Oh mein Gott..." he choked out as he saw the outline of the beast outside of the tent. He gulped, frozen with fear. _

_He heard it sniff the air around the tent and he forced himself to breathe, though he was panicking inside. "Gil.." he murmured as quiet as he could, trying not to be noticed by the bear looming over their tent. He turned to the albino and shook him. "Gil!" he whispered loudly. "Hm?!" The older man turned in his bed, his snoring interrupted. His silvery white brows furrowed as he opened his blood red eyes sleepily. "What is it, bruder?" he asked grouchily, turning to Ludwig. The blonde was trembling. "I-I forgot our guns in the truck.." he muttered under his breath, cussing as he heard the bear nudge the edge of the tent. Gilbert sat up as he heard the animal. "Was zür Hölle..?!" His blood ran cold when the beast heard his outburst and responded with a deep growl. "Sheiße! Get out now!" The albino grabbed his brother's arm and yanked him out of the tent. The bear flattened half the tent with its front feet, bellowing out a loud growl when it saw the humans. "The mace! Where's the bear mace!?" Gilbert demanded, as they backed away from the tent and the animal climbing over it. "There was..there was one in the tent u-und one in the truck." "Right." Gilbert shuffled quickly to his truck as the bear was distracted in tearing up their tent. _

_Unfortunately, Ludwig was still frozen in place, eyes wide. He had never seen a bear up close and fear was coursing through his veins at a rapid speed. His legs trembled and his flight response took hold of him. _

_It was the worst mistake he had ever made in his life. The bear had been done with tearing up the tent and charged after Ludwig. _

_Gilbert slammed the truck door closed and ran back to his campsite with mace in hand. "Lud-" All that was left of their camp was scattered ashes and a torn-up tent. The albino looked around frantically for a sign of the bear. He could only hope his brother had hid- A scream rippled through the stillness of the night and pierced his eardrums. "SHIEßE! LUDWIG!" _

The blonde could still hear his name echoing faintly through his mind as he slowly rose from unconsciousness and squinted weakly as his eyes barely opened. He heard the beeping of the monitor next to where he laid, but it sounded too loud. He exhaled deeply and turned his head, trying to ignore it. It was annoying even after only a minute. He winced and whined softly as a throbbing ache tortured the back of his head. Ludwig froze suddenly in thought and he looked around him at the white room. He was in a hospital room. _But why? _

He took a deep breath and tried to sit up. His back was stiff, his chest stung with fresh bandages and disinfectant, and the side of his face hurt when he tried to contort any emotion onto it. He groaned as pain shot through his shoulder. Ludwig turned to look at the small bump next to him in the white, sterile sheets. It was starting to bleed through the bandages. "Sheiße.." He lifted his left arm, which was attached to some tubing, to hold his shoulder, since he couldn't find any feeling in his right arm for some reason.

He soon found out the reason. As he felt over the bleeding stitches on his shoulder, the color and heat drained from his body . With a trembling hand, he reached over and felt the space on the hospital bed where his right arm would have been laying, if he had one anymore.

"M-Mein G-Gott..." he choked out. He was so shocked he couldn't even scream. Ludwig couldn't hear anything but white noise and his eyes rolled back into his head and closed their lids. He collapsed on his bed again, drifting out of consciousness in an instant.


	2. Luddy

_BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! _

And_ the_ bear_ slumped over onto the ground, dead._

_Gilbert trembled ,still holding the smoky gun. "L-Ludwig?" he called, checking to see if the bear was dead before searching around and under it for his little brother's body. He pulled out his cell phone, which miraculously had service, and dialed three numbers. _

"911,_ what's your emergency?" _

_"B-Bear attack.." Gilbert gulped and his flashlight flickered shakily as he made his way through the woods._

_"Can you tell me your location, sir? Have you been attacked?" _

_"N-Nein, m-mein bruder.. I can't find him!" Gilbert said in a panicked voice. "I-I think he-he might be-" he hyperventilated, panic and fear welling up inside of him._

_"Sir, where are you?" _

_"I-I don't remember.. Um, Rocky Woods..I th-think._

_He whimpered slightly as there was a silence on the line. The person on the phone was tracking the albino's cellphone. _

_"We will send an ambula-"_

_"OH GOTT!" Gilbert dropped his shotgun in shock as his flashlight found his brother. He dashed towards him._

_"Sir, please, can you stay_ on_ the line with m-" The phone fell to the ground beside a growing pool of blood. _

_"LUDWIG!" The albino fell to his knees beside his brother and his heart seemed to have stopped. "Ludwig..." Tears began to stream down his pale cheeks as he shuffled closer to the unmoving boy and lifted the upper half of the blonde's body onto his lap. His head bowed deep in sorrow as he held his younger brother, sobbing. A few moments later, he finally regained his bearings and started to check if Ludwig was actually alive before he made any stupid assumptions. He pressed his ear to the blonde's bloody chest and heard a faint heartbeat. "Mein Gott.." He sniffled in relief. After checking all of Ludwig's wounds, Gilbert ripped off some of his shirt and pressed it to the back of his blond head and wrapped his jacket around his chest and shoulder, now with a missing arm. "Don't you dare die, bruder. Not on my watch." He took a handkerchief out of his pocket and pressed it to Ludwig's left cheek, which bore claw marks. His blood-spotted eyebrow twitched and Gilbert smiled softly, a few tears still dripping down his cheeks. "Dummkoph, don't you know you aren't supposed to run from a grizzly?" he chuckled quietly and sniffled. _

When Ludwig awoke in the late evening the next day, the back of his head didn't hurt as much as before. He inhaled deeply and exhaled, looking around the room until his vision no longer was blurry. He could see clouds dotting the clear blue sky from his window. He could hear the sound of the steady beeping of his heart monitor and the business outside of his hospital room. Taking another deep breath, he focused on the soft snoring of the man in the chair on the right side of his hospital bed, and the shallow, nasally breathing of the woman on his left. The young, light brunette had her hair splayed over his white covers and she slept restlessly. The edge of Ludwig's lips twitched upwards slightly. She sounded as if she had been crying for a while. Her hand rested on his elbow, where dried tear stains were dotted. He closed his eyes, exhaling softly. He felt her squeeze lightly on his arm.

There was a pleasant silence for a while, not even the beeping of his monitor. It was peaceful, knowing he was not alone as he slept.

A few hours later, which felt more like a few minutes to Ludwig, he heard the sound of a door opening. The warmth on his arm disappeared as the Hungarian woman on his left released his arm. Ludwig felt a little sad at this. A Japanese accent filled the air and his eyes twitched, but did not open. He felt a cool hand slide a stethoscope under his hospital gown and the coolness of it felt pretty good on his sore tissue underneath the bandages. The man in the chair on his right got up as the man with the Japanese accent retracted his stethoscope and messed around with some of his tubing. Ludwig winced a couple of times as some of the tubes were replaced, but otherwise was too tired to fully wake. Before the Japanese man and the man on his right left the room, he felt nimble fingers run through his unfixed locks.

"Keep an eye on him."

The woman made a sound in affirmation and Ludwig heard her kiss him.

The door closed and he relaxed once more, though he didn't know why he was not relaxed in the first place. He guessed the Austrian man always made him like that when he was around. He let out a small, quiet sigh, eyelashes flitting as the Hunagarian also sighed, but it was heavier and sounded more tired. She slipped her hand into Ludwig's and kissed his forehead, making the German smile slightly and his heart warm. The woman had always been a motherly figure to him since she met his cousin when Ludwig was barely a preteen. She was like the older sister he never had. He usually never responded to her affectionate gestures, but he would make an exception, just this once. "Poor dear.." she murmured softly. His frosty, light blue eyes fluttered open as her hand rested on his bandaged cheek. Her face was still a bit flushed from crying, but she otherwise looked fine. Her green eyes widened. "E-Eliza?" he croaked weakly, making her eyes water. "Ludwig!" She sat up and hugged him tightly, accidentally pressing his face into her breasts. The German went bright red. "L-Liz!" he squeaked, trying to push her away. "Oops!" She released him with a giggle, and he breathed in deeply. This was exactly why he didn't respond very well to her affection all the time. She loved too hard, and he had no idea why his cousin would choose such a woman for his wife. Nevertheless, their family loved her. She was one of Ludwig's best friends, since he didn't have many friends anyways. And though he hadn't told a soul about his sexuality, he had a feeling she knew..

Elizabeta smiled sweetly and kissed his hand carefully. "How do you feel, sweetie?" Ludwig's small smile reappeared. "I'm fine."

"You've been out for way too many days, Ludwig. We were getting worried.." she said, her eyes glistening with worry as she wiped her joyous tears. "I'm sorry," the German said, looking down at the sheets that covered two-thirds of his body, "I'm sorry I made you all worry." The Hungarian smiled. "It's alright, hon," she said, running her hand through his short bangs, that were usually slicked back, "We're just glad you're alive."

Ludwig smiled back faintly. "How long was I out?" "Almost a week."

The teen frowned, remembering how he had waken up a while ago... And with that thought, he once again made the mistake of looking at his armless, bandaged shoulder. Pain rooted in his chest and he sighed shakily. Elizabeta followed his gaze and smiled sadly. Hugging him gently this time, she kissed his forehead again, right at his hairline. "Everything will be okay, Ludwig. I promise." He closed his blue eyes as to keep in the emotion that dared to well up in them.

Life was going to be hard.

* * *

_**A/N: Feli will be introduced in the next chapter. Review, so I know you aren't all just robots.**_


	3. Feli

A few weeks ago...

_"You're going to be okay. Sì?" His brother's hand curled up into a fist against the glass of his window in the backseat, which was now had a small spot of fog from the older twin's breath. Feliciano nodded slowly, smiling sadly, and sat up, pressing his clammy hand to the other's clenched one on the other side of the glass. He didn't hear the the sound of Lovino's voice cracking, but he could tell the older Italian teen was seconds from breaking down right in the driveway._

_"Stay strong for me, Feli.." the darker-haired twin said with a slight rasp, eyes watery, "I'll see you on our birthday."_

_Feliciano's eyes were even more watery and he finally shed a tear as he saw the heart-breaking smile that painted itself with tears across his twin's face. "I love you, f-fratello," Feliciano said with as much strength as he could summon at that moment. Lovino covered his eyes for a moment and turned away, his pride be damned as tears streaked down his face. He choked on a quiet sob that racked his frame._

_"G-Goddammit! You b-better fucking live!" he finally cried out, his voice cracking now more than ever, "D-Dammit, w-we are g-going t-to have a huge fucking c-celebration with fireworks and p-pasta and everything when y-you c-come back!" At his big brother's words, Feliciano's cheeks turned red with the large waterfall of tears that were gushing down his cheeks, but his smile never wavered and he let out a weak chuckle. A tan hand rested on Lovino's shoulder from behind him, drawing him away from the glass that kept the twins apart. Lovino wanted to break through it and hug his brother, but he knew it would put too much physical strain on Feliciano._

_Their surprisingly young-looking grandfather, Romulus Vargas, suddenly walked up to Lovino, from the house and said a few words that Feliciano couldn't hear from inside the car. He handed keys to the Spanish man behind Lovino, a family friend that flew in from Madrid to keep the older twin company and cheer him up while Feliciano was at the hospital. This man, his nickname was "Toni", if Feliciano remembered correctly, was one of Lovino's only childhood friends. Romulus fully trusted the Spaniard to take care of Lovino and Sebastian and clean the house like he did when Toni and Lovino were only children and Sebastian, when he was a toddler. Feliciano was distracted from his thoughts as his grandfather kissed his brother's cheek and hugged him, then Toni, then kissed both of their foreheads, and for once, Lovino let him. As Romulus started the car, Lovino put his hand on his twin's car window. "Ti amo, fratellino.." he sniffled and smiled a lasting, shaky smile that would imbed itself in Feliciano's mind forever._

_Lovino finally turned to sob into Toni's chest as the car pulled out of the driveway. Toni swayed Lovino is his arms gently, like a soothing mother, and kissed the Italian's head, blowing a kiss and waving to the younger, sick one, who was leaving. Feliciano wiped his tears and waved with a small smile at the tan, green-eyed man until he disappeared far behind._

_The auburn-haired teen then turned and stared at his grandfather's kind, handsome face, that was smiling at him from the rear-view mirror. His eyes were also red-rimmed and teary and he blew his nose on a Kleenex. Feliciano smiled at him comfortingly and held the older's sun-kissed hand that wasn't on the steering wheel. The boy sighed and leaned his head back in his seat, wiping his tear-stained face with his other sleeve sleepily. He yawned and started to settle down for a siesta, still holding on tight._

_Romulus took a deep breath and exhaled deeply, rubbing his thumb over Feliciano's thin knuckles praying to God he wouldn't lose his favourite grandson._

_Feliciano woke up when his car door opened and some people with nurse clothes, coats, and thin, rubbery gloves, wheeled him into the familiar hospital on a gurney. The boy struggled weakly, crying for his grandfather, who was being told that he had to wait in the waiting room. The man waved tearfully and gave him a reassuring smile. "Everything will be alright, nipotino." Feliciano quit trying to free himself and waved back sadly. He was going to miss his family, but he knew everything would turn out okay in the end. Once he was in his room, he was put through several tests and x-Rays and his diagnosis of Ewing's Sarcoma was confirmed, his diagnosis of it being more than a week ago. There was many a few patients who also had it, so Feliciano ended up sharing a room with another patient or two, but they were separated by a thick curtain. The Italian sighed into his breathing mask and closed his eyes, wanting to rid himself of his condition so he could just go home._

_Though he knew it would be a long while until he could when his grandfather came in and told him about the surgery he was to have in a few days._

* * *

After a few surgeries, the young Italian was now healing with nothing below his knees, but it did nothing to affect his usual happy-go-lucky spirit.

Wheeling his way down the corridor, he waved and greeted some war veterans, knowing some were lucky or more unlucky than he was. It never ceased to brighten his day when he saw their smiles that he most likely brought to them.

"Hej, Felii~" one greeted, hair spiky as always and blue eyes shining bright. As he made his way over, the Dane's one right arm clutched a single crutch and he extended his other, prosthetic arm in the young Italian's direction. Feliciano giggled and leaned up in his wheelchair to gently shake the fake appendage. "Buongiorno, Matthias~ How are you today?" The Nordic man grinned. "Just excited about my Norgie comin' in tonight from Iceland. He's bringing Emil too."

"Ve~" Feliciano beamed and tilted his head to the side, "I thought your boyfriend's name was Lukas."

Matthias looked confused for a second, then guffawed like it was the funniest joke he had ever heard in his life. "It is, I just call him Norge 'cos he's Norwegian."

"Oh," Feliciano laughed a little and smiled dopely, "Well, good day to you Signor Kohler, I have to get breakfast before they run out. Ciao~" The handsome Nordic waved as Feliciano sped down the hall to the cafeteria.

There weren't a lot of patients and nurses there, as expected. It was almost 11:30, after all. Racing to get some grub, he almost ran into an albino man scooping some eggs onto a tray. "Sheisse!" The man shrieked and jumped a foot away in surprise. "Watch it, kid!"

Feliciano squeaked and apologised quickly. "Mi dispiace, signor!"

Gilbert's blood red eyes widened and he grinned. "Bitte, bitte," he then stepped back and offered the patient assistance in getting food, which was answered by the shake of the auburn-haired teen's head. "No, grazie. I can manage," he giggled and winked, then got some breakfast for himself.

* * *

Gilbert had taken an instant liking to Feliciano and sat and chatted with him as he ate. After breakfast, he gladly agreed to escort him down the hall so he wouldn't be lonely.

"You know, Feli, I have a brother around your age." said the muscular albino.

"Ve~ Really?"

"Ja, he's actually here in this hospital too." Gilbert's expression was hard to read for a moment. It seemed a little gloomy.

Feliciano's amber eyes flashed with realisation as he repeated the German's words in his head. "Oh! So that's why you didn't eat your food! I was getting a little worried, ve.."

"Mhm," the older man nodded and ruffled the teen's hair, before walking up to a door, "I think he's still resting, but I'll let you have a peek."

Feliciano wheeled up to the door excitedly and peeked in as Gilbert brought the tray of breakfast for Ludwig.

The patient shifted in his bed restlessly as Gilbert set up the bed table for him. Ludwig's lips were drawn in a slight frown and his legs were tangled up in the hospital sheets, but he still seemed not awake. "Ve..." Feliciano leaned in to get a better look.

The older teen was breathing unevenly, exhaling shallow breaths as if he was having a bad dream. His sleek, blond hair was a sweaty mess and his short bangs stuck to his forehead. Still, the amber eyes of his admirer gazed at him fondly from the doorway. "Ve," Feliciano's cheeks reddened slightly, "He's cute~!" The auburn-haired boy silently wondered if being tall, muscular, and handsome ran in the Beilschmidt family.

"Feli-kun?" He looked up at his doctor, Dr. Honda, and smiled sheepishly as the other gave him a questioning look. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be up in your room for your appointment soon?"

"Oh Dio! Scusa!" The doctor stepped back just in time as the Italian sped down the hall. This was the moment that Ludwig awoke.

He rubbed his eyes tiredly and yawned, slightly irritated by the loud voice that woke him. "Who the hell..was that?"

* * *

**If you like this chapter, review so I know you enjoyed it~ If not, please help me write better by reviewing. Constructive criticism. **


End file.
